Old fireplace restoration in Northside

Soot, open joints and a stuck damper in Northside sorted in the right order, with a test patch before any face cleaning.

Fully licensed and insured
Locally owned
Family owned and operated
Same-day service

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Get a quote for chimney and fireplace repair and installation in Jacksonville.

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(904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

Local restoration pros who keep the original look

Locally owned in Jacksonville
Family owned and operated
100% satisfaction guaranteed
Free inspection and estimate
Same-day service available
10% off any service

We identify every stain before choosing how to clean it.

Family owned and operatedA family business plans your Northside fireplace as one job, so each step happens once and in the right order.
100% satisfaction guaranteedYou approve the trial patch and the mortar sample before the face is touched, and our guarantee covers the result.

Call (904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

The first fire after restoration

After a restoration, the first fire waits for the repairs to be ready. Refractory mortar in the firebox and smoke chamber needs its full drying time from the maker's data before heat, and that date is written on the ticket before we leave.

That first fire should be small, and we tell you what to look for: smoke drawing up cleanly, the damper opening fully, no smoke at the face. Want a clear date for the first fire in your restored Northside fireplace? Plan it with us at (904) 920-5495.

Northside lies within Duval County. Northside sits away from the coastline.

Restoration work for Northside fireplaces

Open firebox joints and cracked firebrick redone on the heat side
Face joints repointed to match the original
Worn or damaged face brick replaced with matched units
Stone fireplace faces cleaned and repointed

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From first cleaning to first fire in Northside

Clean and assess
Everything from the hearth to the flue top is cleaned, then checked and written up part by part.
Heat side first
Firebox, parging and damper repairs are made in refractory materials and left to dry.
Trial, then the face
A trial patch is cleaned and a mortar sample made for your approval before the face work.
Repoint, cure, clean
Face joints are repointed in layers, left to harden, then the face gets its final cleaning.

One plan for an old fireplace in Northside

Well back from the coast, an old fireplace in Northside still needs every part checked: flue, smoke chamber, damper, firebox, lintel, face and hearth.

Restoration puts them on one page in the right order.

10% off any service booked within 72 hours of inspection

Restoration earns the discount whether this is your first job with us or not.

Call (904) 920-5495 Free Inspection

Heat-side repairs use refractory materials

Inside the firebox and the smoke chamber, the building code sets the materials. Firebrick goes into C199 medium-duty refractory mortar, the class R1001.5 names, and firebox joints stay at a quarter inch or less.

The same mortar class is required for smoke chamber parging. Restoration uses those materials on the heat side even where the original builder did not, because they are what hold up to the fire. The ordinary mortars used on the face have no place inside the firebox, and the estimate names the refractory product separately from the face mortar so the two stay apart on site.

A partly open damper and the flue

The code sets a floor for the passage over the firebox: its cross-section may not be smaller than the flue's. A damper plate stuck partway open shrinks exactly that passage, and the smoke has to squeeze through.

In an old fireplace, a smoky first fire is often traced to a plate that only opens halfway. Restoring full travel, or replacing the plate, gives the smoke its full path back. We measure the opening with the plate fully open and compare it with the flue before signing off the damper work, so the fix is confirmed rather than assumed.

Cleaning the face after repointing

Fresh face mortar has to harden before it is cleaned. The National Park Service guidance says the mortar should be fully hardened first, with thirty days usually sufficient, and that the masonry should be soaked with water before any chemical cleaner and flushed afterward.

So on a restoration, the final cleaning of the face waits for the new joints. We schedule that visit on the estimate, a month or so after the repointing, and the fireplace can be used for fires in between once the heat-side repairs have dried. The final visit also checks the new joints for any hairline cracking.

Safety work and face work on one page

Firebox joints and firebrick in C199 refractory mortar
Smoke chamber parged smooth where parging is missing
Face mortar matched in sand, color and profile, softer than the brick
Floors, mantel and walls protected, rinse water contained

Fireplace restoration questions from Northside

Can you restore an old fireplace in Northside without changing how it looks?

Yes. Restoration keeps the original brick or stone, the size of the opening and the joint pattern. Changing the facing or surround is remodeling, which we do not do.

How long before we can light a fire?

Once the heat-side repairs have dried for the time on the mortar maker's data sheet. The date is on your ticket, and the face work can continue after that.